Kelly's post about the couple driving and hour and not making it past his first room reminded me of something we have started doing. We are offering flashlight tours for anyone requesting them. We have generated more good will AND return customers with this simple gesture. Many times parents will buy 4 or 5 tickets only to have one child not be able to make it through. By offering a no-scare guided tour we have found that they are extremly grateful that they didn't just waste $50-75. We have had some of these people come back later in the season for another, non-guided tour. We had one group return the next year with 20 people to go through (some guided, some not).

Just a reminder that it isn't always about the scare but providing entertainment.

I know that one of the Haunts I worked at in Denver did a Saturday and Sunday Kids Lights on tour for Kids. And then some times the kids would come back at night.. Idea is pretty cool I think and u generate extra Cash.

I didn't make it up that season, but I have heard that Brutal Planet at Six Flags Elitch Gardens did a flashlights only tour one year. General consensus on one of the forums I read back then was that it wasn't done well. Apparently, each group of 6-8 people was given only one flashlight, and the folks at the back of the group missed all of the scares. Again, I never got to see it for myself, but maybe that bit of info will help someone who's considering this?

I had once thought about doing a flashlights only tour and had posed questions about it. But, I was told to steer clear since flashlights can hurt the actors eyes. I was also told they are dropped often which leads to breakage and can be used as a weapon.

Because The Ravens Grin Inn is a year-round tourist attraction I must make everyone in a group "happy", get them in the house and through it, if at all possible since most of my groups are familys with kids, sometimes smaller kids.
Ever Ready made an excellant small, inexpensive "Workhorse" flashlight for years, then quit making it, now seems to have begun making it again ("Yippee!") It has been my "standard" flashlight here for almost 20 years, they last a long time, are very small, easy to hide in your hand, and may also be easily held between your teeth if you have to work on something with both hands in the dark(that's what those marks are from on my flashlight)
Buy Radio Shack rechargeable batterys, they might seem expensive at first but I think they are the only way to do this efficiently, buy the bigger capacity recharger that can handle about 8 batteries at a time too.
Avoid having 10 different flashlights with various bulb and battery requirements , you don't need this headache on a busy night.
First thing I do when I get new lights if spray paint a stripe across the nose of the flashlight to let the world know it belongs here since they get handed out sometimes to kids who are scared and we have to retrieve them at the exit.
We usually only ever need to hand out one flashlight to a group, but then we discourage any running here(I think people have a tendentcy to fall down, get hurt when they are running in a haunted house) so one flashlight for one or two nervous kids is usually adequate.
(Empress, if you come through The Ravens Grin there will be no flashlight for you, put your hair in pigtails, try to fool me? No. You get the full, adult tour!hahahah!)